http://www.thepunch.com.au/author-bios/rob-morrison/ Dr Rob Morrison writes and broadcasts on science matters and has won many media awards, including two Eureka Prizes, one of them being the Australian Government Eureka Prize for the Promotion of Science (2007). He was the Senior Australian of the Year for South Australia in 2008, and is an Ambassador for the Australia Day Council. He is a Professorial Fellow at Flinders University of South Australia. (And yes, he co-hosted the Curiosity Show - Ed.) en Copyright 2012 The Punch penberthyd@newsltd.com.au penberthyd@newsltd.com.au Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 Politics, opinion, world news, sports news, latest news, views, Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Nathan Rees, Malcolm Turnbull, Peter Garrett, Barnaby Joyce, Australian, federal politics, opinion polls, election, The Punch, thepunch, punch ExpressionEngine 1.6.7 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 15 http://www.thepunch.com.au/images/punch-logo-rss.png http://www.thepunch.com.au/ 144 70 Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. Search The Punch keywords http://www.thepunch.com.au/search/ http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/this-is-the-dawning-of-the-age-of-superstition/ From August till the end of the year is the season for science awards. Eureka Prizes, Prime Minister’s Prizes, State Awards for Science Excellence, The Unsung Hero of Science Award, The State Scientists of the Year, Nobel Prizes … on it goes; the glittering array of rewards for those who have truly advanced knowledge and improved the lot of mankind. Predictably, most of the speeches that laud the winners will mention something like the growing number of Australia’s Nobel laureates in science, how this is a time when science is paramount, how our lives are dependent on science and technology and how virtually every benefit we now enjoy - from better health and longer lives to the internet and safer cars - is the product of scientific processes, improved technology and their application. Why, then, is this era in which we live apparently the most superstitious and anti-science period since the Middle Ages? Pseudoscience and non-science not only abound, they are actively embraced by thousands who subject themselves and (worse) their children to a variety of nonsensical alternative “treatments” that at their best cause no harm, but at their worst cause serious disease, disability or even death. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Rob Morrison) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/this-is-the-dawning-of-the-age-of-superstition/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/this-is-the-dawning-of-the-age-of-superstition/#item7325 Wed, 07 Dec 2011 20:00:19 +0000 Rob Morrison | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/science-shows-we-should-get-rid-of-race/ Andrew McLeod, addressing the United Nations last week, argued that the AFL must address racism in football, citing their laws that prevent insults and threats on the basis of a person’s race. His address, on Australia Day, coincided with hundreds of speeches around the country assuring those taking up Australian citizenship that the nation’s racial vilification laws prevented discrimination against them on the basis of their race. Race is also emerging as a hot topic in the controversy about a referendum on indigenous recognition in the constitution. Options for change are already citing “people of any race,” “racial groups” and “all racial backgrounds” and the race power contained in section 51 (xxvi) (1). feedback@thepunch.com.au (Rob Morrison) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/science-shows-we-should-get-rid-of-race/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/science-shows-we-should-get-rid-of-race/#item5001 Sun, 30 Jan 2011 19:50:07 +0000 Rob Morrison | Author bios | The Punch